“Fight Night!” (Thanos #11 Comic Review)

What you need to know: Thane, coerced by Death, has gained the power of the Phoenix Force to kill his father Thanos. In order to stop his son, Thanos had to enter the God Quarry to gain enough power to stop him. Now it is father versus son to the death. And Death, couldn’t be happier.

What you’ll find out: This is a straight up fight issue with Thanos battling his son Thane. Thanos has gained “god-like” power and is strong enough to take on the Phoenix powered Thane. Nebula and Tryco attempt to escape the devastation unleashed by father and son.

Pros: Lemire doesn’t let Thanos and Thane get too chatty. It’s a fight and there’s no long winded explanations or declarations. What dialogue there is between the two titans is straight up trash talk and it’s awesome. The issue is fast paced which works because there isn’t a lot of talking. What you get is good art work Peralta and Rosenberg showing off these two hitting hard and causing destruction. The artwork is gritty and the dialogue minimal and that’s what anyone wants from an issue where you expect action. The scenery is just as important as it lends to what Thanos and Thane can do. Moons are getting destroyed, planets rupturing, and black holes getting ripped opened. When you’re dealing with power levels like this, the art is great at showing the repercussions of those powers.

Cons: What actually works to make the issue good also works against it. Because it’s so fast paced, it is kind of jarring how fast the issue ends. And it only has that feeling because the fight isn’t over. Both Thanos and Thane are still standing at the end so it makes it feel like you should have gotten more action out of it. Especially with limited dialogue, which is good for a fight. It feels like you get shortchanged not getting more pages of art out of it. And that has less to do with what makes the issue good and more to do with how much you spent to get it. As a collector of comic books, it would be nice to be rewarded with something more like the art aspect of it when dialogue is noticeably thinned out.

Final Thoughts: Solid issue with nothing considerably wrong with it. Just the shortchanged feeling and lack of any kind of cliffhanger. The issue gives you one heck of a fight with some good trash talk. Thanos is a good book in a way it has no right to be. You shouldn’t be rooting for either Thanos or Thane considering they’re “bad guys!” Yet Lemire tricks you perfectly into not just enjoying the story. But considering how you may feel about the characters, Lemire makes you care who’s gonna win. Despite the fact one of them will try to destroy the universe no matter the outcome. They’re “bad guys,” they’re “villains,” and yet it’s so much fun. In the past years where we’ve dealt with hero versus hero over moral and ethical reasons. Reading about villain versus villain for more straight forward reasons seems to be a lot more enjoyable.